The Ontario Government and Starlink have agreed to a deal believed to be valued at $100 million to provide high-speed internet to parts of northern and rural Ontario, regions that are currently underserved.
The Musk-owned company, which is run and engineered by SpaceX, entered a competitive bid that was selected to provide satellite internet to approximately 15,000 households and businesses effective June 2025. The system is supported by low-orbiting satellites which offer higher speed internet access where infrastructure is harder to install and maintain.
“Our government is pleased to work with Starlink to offer a highly advanced satellite internet service that will help people living and working in the hardest to reach areas of the province access high-speed internet,” said Minister of Infrastructure Kinga Surma in a statement.
“Our government knows how essential it is to have access to online services and supports, which is why we are using all viable options and technologies, including fibre, fixed wireless, and satellite to ensure every community across the province has access by the end of 2025.”
Part of the deal includes an agreement to engage with Indigenous communities that will rely on the program, creating economic opportunities by hiring and training locally where possible, which Starlink has done in the past, having introduced the technology in Pikangikum First Nation in 2020.
